Recently, the outdoor gear and sporting goods retailer announced its unprecedented decision to forgo of Black Friday, encouraging shoppers to opt-out of shopping and spend time outside. Come November 27, REI will be postponing digital orders and closing its 143 stores, sparing shoppers dizzying lines and blink-and-you-miss-it promotions.

Employees of Specialty Outdoor Retailer REI pose outside of the flagship store following the announcement of Black Friday closure at 143 stores nationwide as part of #OptOutside initiative. (Photo by Suzi Pratt/Getty Images for REI)

Black Friday remains a profitable start to the retail season, drawing more than 86.9 million shoppers in 2014 alone. As such, REI’s decision comes as a surprise to marketers: Why would a brand not want to take advantage of the biggest shopping day of the year? Is it time for all brands to think differently?

Reinforce Brand Positioning

Across social media, REI has been transparent about their reason for banishing Black Friday, stating that a “life outdoors is a life well lived” and using the hashtag #OptOutside to encourage shoppers to follow its footsteps and share their alternative plans. Ultimately, REI strives to inspire, educate and outfit its community for outdoor adventure and stewardship -- standing in long lines on Black Friday is the antithesis of this positioning. Though it’s tempting to embrace bargain hunting and initiate flash sales to jump-start the holiday shopping season, brands shouldn’t blindly follow marketing trends because that’s what their competitors are doing. Marketers must remain authentic and stay on target with strategies that pertain directly to company values. For REI, participating in Black Friday is brand erosive, but taking a bold stance against telling consumers to spend an entire day standing in long lines enhances brand positioning and makes a strong marketing statement.

Differentiation

With everyone from fashion retailers to big box chains participating in Black Friday festivities, it’s extremely difficult for brands to differentiate. Across the board, marketers use the same compelling reasons to convince consumers to shop at their stores -- special doorbusters, discounts on the hottest items and a continuous pipeline of deals throughout the day. It’s the proverbial “race to the bottom” to see which retailers can offer their products for the least amount of money to see the most movement. REI is simply using one of the oldest marketing strategies of "doing the opposite" to create differentiation -- and it’s working. Aside from receiving a plethora of media coverage, consumer response has been largely positive with more than half a million people supporting REI’s shunning.

Expanding The Holiday Shopping Season

Though Black Friday is a tremendous sales opportunity, it also creates the risk of concentrating a retailer’s consumer purchases on the most competitive day of the year. By opting out of Black Friday and using its resistance to reinforce its brand positioning, REI has created consumer awareness of not just its name, but its ethos, and expanded consumer engagement throughout the holiday shopping season.

While there is a lot of buzz surrounding Black Friday, marketers put a lot on the line by placing such an emphasis on a single day.

Though REI’s decision to opt out of Black Friday makes sense for them, it may not be a strategy for every brand. Brands should consider ways to drive sales all season long, rather than relying on a single shopping bonanza. REI’s unique strategy should provoke marketers to take a step back from the overwhelming momentum of traditional holiday tactics and consider alternatives to drive excitement and maximize ROI during the most important shopping season of the year.